Certain appliances, such as refrigerator appliances, generally include an icemaker. In order to produce ice, liquid water is directed to the icemaker and frozen. After being frozen, ice may be stored within a storage bin appliance. In order to ensure ice is formed and/or remains in a frozen state, the icemaker and bin may be mounted within a chilled portion of the appliance. For instance, some conventional appliances provide an icemaker and storage bin within a freezer compartment. Other conventional appliances provide the icemaker and storage bin within a separate sub-compartment, e.g., within a door. In order to maintain efficient operation of the appliance, these conventional appliances generally provide an air circulation system to continuously circulate air within the sub-compartment with air within the freezer compartment.
Certain drawbacks exist with these conventional appliances. For instance, air within the freezer may be affected by the items stored within the freezer. Foul or unpleasant odors may be conveyed to the icemaker and/or storage bin. Over time, the odors within the air may taint the flavor or texture of the ice within the appliance. Moreover, in some conventional systems (e.g., appliances having a separate sub-compartment for the icemaker and/or storage bin), circulating air may generate an undesirable temperature gradient within the freezer. Specifically, relatively warm air conveyed from a separate sub-compartment may rapidly increase a localized temperature within the freezer compartment. In some instances, this may lead to some items within the freezer compartment reaching an undesirable temperature. Although separate evaporators or cooling components may be provided to reduce the temperature gradient (i.e., the effects of relatively warm sub-compartment air), such components may generally increase the complexity and overall inefficiency of the appliance. Moreover, such components may be difficult to effectively and consistently control.
In turn, it would be advantageous to provide a refrigerator appliance having features for addressing one or more of the above-described issues.